Argh… so much stuff going on…

All he wanted was a bath. What he got was Kuroko getting drowned. What the hell happened?

"Kuroko!"

Kuroko struggled to get away, but they were ganging up on him. Was this… his family? How could they do this to their own relative?

"NO! Kaga-ack!"

He tried to get closer, but a guy who looked older than him stepped in front.

"Get out of my way!"

"Are you really going to go help that thing?" he asked, pointing a thumb back at the small crowd.

"Kuroko's not a thing! Who do you think you are?"

"Humph, you can call me Takaya- sama."

"Like hell I will! Are you trying to get hurt!"

The Takaya sighed. Tetsuya really liked choosing stupid people, didn't he?

"Are you gonna move or not?"

"Kagami! J-just leave! I'll be fi-ah!" Kuroko spluttered as he struggled to stay above water and conscious.

"I am not going to leave you! That's stupid!"

There was almost no one else left in the baths anymore except for them. Many guests had gone to report the disturbance and the assault on Kuroko.

Takaya took a step closer.

"Do you even know why we're doing this?"

"Don't know don't care!" Kagami shouted and shot past Takaya as if he was trying to guard Kagami.

To his surprise he tripped over Takaya's outstretched foot and hit the tiles hard. Takaya leaned down and looked at Kagami with cold contempt.

"His father raped his mother and ran. Kuroko's nothing but a painful reminder. Do you have any idea how much his mother must suffer every single day? She sees his face and is reminded of that horrible experience," he muttered, his eyes glistening with rage.

"NO ONE deserves that kind of emotional pain. My father told me all about the bastard child his sister had, and that's when I decided that we as a family were going to make sure that that thing's life was hell on earth when we were around. Anybody who associates with it is trash in my eyes."

Kagami stared wide-eyed in shock. His gaze flitted back and forth from Takaya to Kuroko. The only possible explanation for their behavior was that everything that Takaya had said was true. That meant that Kuroko's real dad was some criminal still on the loose? He grit his teeth, and then swung his fist straight into Takaya's face. He could feel teeth cut his knuckle and he hoped to the high heavens that the douchbag had at least a black eye or crooked nose.

"SHUT UP! IT'S NOT HIS FAULT HE WAS BORN! YOU'RE JUST SOME JERK THAT WANTS TO BE A HERO! GO TO HELL!"

Kuroko watched silently as Takaya flew back and the people holding him down also unhanded him to go rush at Kagami. He moved towards the edge of the baths, but the heat and panic finally got to him. He passed out.

-o-o-o-

When he woke up, he was on a futon and dressed in the clothes he planned to change into. He also noticed how cold he felt and his damp hair soaking his collar and pillow.

"Feeling better?"

He got up and a hand instinctively went to his thigh that had been scraped on the tiles. He faced the right and saw Kagami sitting in a chair, looking worried. He nodded.

"Yes, what did Takaya-san tell you?"

Kagami seemed loathe speaking to him, and then sighed.

"Everything."

Kuroko didn't even blink.

"Your life is shit."

"I know. My clothes, how did you…"

His friend groaned, then began to fidget and blush.

"I carried you up here first, then I ran back to get your stuff. By then, there were actually some police here, so I just ran into the changing rooms and grabbed our stuff."

"So you ran from here, to there, to back here," Kuroko said.

"Yes," Kagami mumbled.

"Naked."

"Yeah."

"Oh, I am sorry."

"Why're you apologizing?" Kagami asked, "They sounded like they were going to lynch you."

Kuroko went pale.

"Whoa! Is something wrong? Did I say something?"

Kuroko was silent for a few seconds. Then, he spoke.

"Kagami," he whispered, "I feel sick."

The boy bolted across the room and shoved the wastebasket into Kuroko's arms.

"I won't look!"

Even with his back turned, Kagami could still hear everything. He heard Kuroko cough, and then heard a splash, like water, followed by something considerably more substantial, like dinner. Kagami started feeling a bit himself and kept his back turned even as he heard Kuroko get up to put the wastebasket back in the corner.

"I apologize," Kuroko said hoarsely.

"Never mind, are you hurt?"

He shook his head again before grabbing Kagami's hand.

"The knuckles are cut. How will you play basketball properly if your hand hurts? We should clean and disinfect it."

Kagami jerked his hand away.

"O-okay! Besides, there was some blood on my hands when I carried you back here. You hurt your leg, right?"

"If you knew, why ask?"

Kagami was getting stressed and confused. He had come here expecting a wedding and ended getting caught up in a family bloodbath. He knew too much about Kuroko. This was stuff you only told people involved and people you trusted. There may be mutual trust between them in basketball, but as friends, Kagami didn't feel like he was even close to being allowed to hear this kind of stuff. He stood up emphatically. When Kuroko looked at him, he avoided the gaze of those blue eyes.

"I'm going to go get a first-aid kit!" he yelled angrily and left the room. Kuroko jumped as the door slammed shut. Deep in his chest, he could feel cold tendrils of fear strangle his heart. Was Kagami going to end their friendship? Kuroko, in that moment felt unbearably lonely. He dropped to the ground and pulled his knees to his chest. Against his will, tears began to drip down his face. He shouldn't have come.

No, he shouldn't have been so selfish as to ask Kagami to come along. He thought Kagami could protect him. The past few days had been filled with sleepless nights. He could sense his body breaking down as his mind seemed to slip deeper into some sort of dark pit. When Kagami was around though, he could sleep.

It was like having a night-light. When it was dark, the light let you see reality and protected you, even if it was a superficial kind of protection. That was what Kagami had been, and he was stupid enough not to have noticed. He bit his fist to keep himself from crying out in despair.

He had just wanted to be selfish-just this once!- and it had backfired so horribly. He wanted to be supported for once instead of being a support.

"Kuroko Tetsuya," he said to himself, "you are a Shadow." He steeled his resolve and sighed.

A loud knock on the door snapped him out of his musings. He got up and wiped his face. He hoped his eyes weren't that red.

"Yes?" he asked as he opened the door. To his surprise, an officer in uniform stared back at him.

"Is something the matter Sir?"

"Ah, yeah. My buddy is downstairs taking care of the commotion at the baths. The guests were reporting something about a boy being assaulted while a guy down there with his hair bleached is saying that you, his cousin made a friend punch him in the face."

"Really, he's saying that? How does his face look?"

The officer sighed. This kid had one of the best poker faces he'd ever seen. If he ever tried gambling…

"Weeelll, it looks like his cheek is swollen and the inside of his mouth is cut. He'll have a nasty bruise there for maybe a week. Could I speak to your friend?"

"I must apologize. He is going to get a first-aid kit right now."

"First-aid? Are you hurt?"

"We both are. Takaya-san tripped my friend and I also slipped in the baths. There was some blood."

The police man scratched his head.

"I see. Did your friend assault your cousin?"

"I passed out in the baths before I noticed. The heat got to me."

"Oh, that's horrible. You don't mind if I wait for your friend to come back?"

Kuroko shook his head.

"Um, the boy whom the guests say was assaulted; no one really noticed him or paid much attention. Do you know who he was?"

Kuroko shook his head again. He was shaking his head a lot nowadays.

"I have no idea."

The officer narrowed his eyes.

"Well, I guess your friend must be taking some time getting that kit. You never told your friend to hit your cousin, did you?"

"No sir."

"I'll take your word for it then. The only person claiming he was assaulted is your cousin, and there is no other proof except for that bruise on his face. I'll be taking my leave then. Tell your friend not to get into any trouble."

"Yes sir."

Kuroko shut the door as the officer walked away. To the officer, it seemed almost obvious that the boy that was assaulted by that cousin and his group of relatives was that boy, Kuroko Tetsuya. He was lying. The friend must've noticed and punched the guy in order to save Kuroko. Try as he might, he couldn't bring himself to arrest a kid for rescuing his friend. He'd let it slide this time. If Kuroko wouldn't admit to the assault, then he probably wouldn't be able to arrest the cousin as well.

To his extreme dissatisfaction, he could feel himself getting guilty. He couldn't protect one kid. He was probably leaving this kid's life now for forever.

And there was nothing he could do.

Just then, a boy taller than him by about a head rushed past. He carried a first-aid box in his hands and rushed into the room he'd just been in.

"Sorry I took so long! The manager was all freaked out about something about your cousins. They're only getting away with a warning, can you believe that! After what they-"

The loud boy's voice was cut off almost immediately. Damn, that blue-eyed kid was sharp. Well, at least he had a hot-blooded and formidable looking friend to back him up.

The officer chuckled as he went along his way.

Maybe all hope wasn't lost yet for Kuroko Tetsuya.

WHEW! This chapter was kinda hard to write!